Went to Albert Park today to check up on construction of the GP circuit and managed to take some photos.

Hope some of you may enjoy them in the lead up to the first race and at least wet your appetites for the upcoming season.

I'll try and update the thread as the next few weeks unfold.

Just 3 weeks to go!!

Turn 2 Stands



Soft Tyres are red - I guess the hard option are coloured blue



Looking back down the pit straight from Turn 1. The ING signage looks rather odd IMO.



Fangio Stand



Pit Building



Podium and what will be the Renault garages I presume[/IMG]



Ok ok I sold out - A Bridgestone shod red car. But I did get it before Kimi was announced at Ferrari! The seats in the background are opposite the podium and pits and are where the gang (a few atlas posters) and I will be seated.



Turn 14 - Gravel yet to be coloured.



Pit Entrance



These next pics are interesting. This is the final corner where both Michael and JPM crashed out last year. It was grass last year and there was controversy over the sign post stump that was there. Its all been removed and an astroturf type surface has been added. These cobblestones also seem new and could also prove troublesome.



Drainage!!



Same but looking back...



Turn 6. This back sweeping part of the track was closed off so thats about as far as I got.

thanks!

That astroturf is sadly a year late coming

So in short...

Two racing drivers leave the racing surface and damage their cars. The result is they reprofile the non-racetrack bits?

They should line the walls with those things they use in bowling for little kids so the ball never goes into the gutter.

I think its more the fact that there is no water left in australia for grass

Ugh. Who came up with that kerbing?

I think it was more due to the bump more than anything else. Michael recovered from the initial off, then hit a bump which pitched his car 30degrees wallward, where it was previously pointing back to the track.

Montoya similarly bottomed out and that ended his race.

I think purely from a safety point of view you can't have an area of the track like that where people are going to understeer into, having an irregular surface. Particularly if the pictures showing a sawnoff signpost pole there were true.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d72E8fg3vsE

Just the way the nose yaws about due to the surface, at that speed, they had to do something.

2 drivers out of 22 couldn't handle the corner. Me thinks the error is not in the circuit.

I think they saw the potential for a serious accident so close to the wall, Ross.

Yeah I'm not sure the numbers of drivers making a mistake is the issue, it's the dangerous consequences of when one does that is the problem.

You go off the road you're gonna crash. I'm all for making things less dangerous , but sometimes in making things safe you go too far. The corner was fine, it still would have been fine.

Well what's the problem with it now?

thanks!

Nice pics.

WOW, 3 weeks to go and the park is closed and the circuit is ready?

I still don't like the main straight entry curve safety zone, the Aussie WC (Wall of Champions).
The wall is too close.
Concrete walls and auto racing doesn't match very well. :\

Exactly. Michael and Montoya just made mistakes last year and paid for them. Now if you make a mistake you will get away most likely.

nice pix .... for a Pentax ...

great pics ta, I may be biased but I think this is the best event on the calender, and most importantly for the fans who go to the trouble of being actual spectators. Take note Bahrain

great piccies ... appetite successfully whetted

Excellent stuff Gerry, thanks for getting out there and posting the pics up

I like looking at the setting up photos each year as the facility takes shape once again. The ING logo on the bridge at start/finish is certainly striking is'nt it? Most years i can't even remember what signage was up there at that spot, but i get the feeling we won't forget that one as they head into the braking zone at turn 1, and BANG...white, blue and orange hits your eyes.

Oh well, it'll be here soon enough, although the winter has already seen one incident in Albert Park.......

Nassar has ground to a halt on the start/finish straight. He parks next to the pitwall, and climbs out. No smoke or visible signs of trouble from the back of the car...

Thanks alot Gerry for those Pictures!!

You Big Pussy, this is motorracing dude, make a mistake and you crash.

Thanks for the pictures Gerry, Australia 2008 instead of Sebring 2008 might not be such a bad idea.

I miss Melbourne far too much.

If you're near Rialto any time soon, fancy taking a few pics from up there? I sometimes see Flinders St on the weather channel here.

Awesome pictures dude.. appreciate your effort..

Cant wait for the season to start

Brill...Gerry

Looking forward to some snaps of the A/A folk there at the track with y'all

Jp

I can't wait for those engines to be fired up in anger

It is going to be one of the best days of my life

I'm going to go Razor Clamming on the Washington coast that afternoon

and then to celebrate my birthday, my new lady friend has planned a picnic in my living room.
She wants to pretend that we are sitting on a grassy knoll in Albert Park watching the race together.
She's got it all planned out down to the sun hat and dress she is going to wear...

Man life is good at the moment

edit: the race is on @7:30 p.m. sat and when it's over I am going to join friends at the local brewpub for festivities

(sorry to boast it's been a rough 14 months for me, and it looks like the clouds are finally breaking up)

gerry any chance of some panorama shots over viewing the course for fun?

Personally I don't think its a good idea leaving all those bumps and the rough grass where it was, bits of Schumacher's car were flying around quite dangerously. There's no harm in doing what they did. Have you got anything positive to say about it ?

Hey Gerry, any chance you can get some shots of turn 3 where they've apparently switched from gravel to tarmac. Cheers.

Nice photos!!

I been "lurking" here for a fair while now...and figured your effort in posting these pics was worth a mention. I will be at the race too (as I have been every year since it has been in Melb, as well as 95 in Adelaide...man I miss the sound of Ferrari's final V12 screaming down Brabham straight... there was nothing like it ). Anyway, my question, what is your fave vantage point in Albert Park??

Me, I am kinda partial to the exit of turn 2...standing right against the fence line, watching the cars squealing and sliding directly towards you as the accelerate up to turn 3. I will never forget watching Sato in his first year in the Jordan, on a wet track in his very first session, slipping and sliding, looking like a disaster waiting to happen!!

Those were the days!!

oh yeah!
any chance you were in the turn 1 corporate box on racers right?

cool pics Gerry, was at albert park yesterday as well! trying to inspire my GF with all the little things going on at the track, but she wasn't impressed!

Nice pics on the final corner.
Ripple strips should be goin down over that cobblestone in the next few days I would imagine.

I sure hope so.

Glad you enjoyed them.

I'll reply to some of the comments shortly.

Here are some more pics I didnt put up yesterday (nothing new really).

Looking ahead to Turn 3 (from exit of Turn 2)



Turn 2 Grandstand which faces the straight



Looking back at the starting grid from Turn 1



Turn 6 looking towards the flowing back straight and marina. Will get more pics from that side of the track next time.

Very nicely done sir. Thank you.

thanks for the pics. Tells me that the 4 month wait is nearly over..

Nice one Gerry, looks like you are the source for a front page news piece :-)

Good on you Gerry.

Great pics!!
They set the mood for the last three weeks of waiting..

Many many thanks, Gerry.

Great pictures, I can't wait for the season to start.

However, the work at the exit of the final turn is a little worrisome. Hopefully, those kerbs and the astroturf offer very little grip so we'll see drivers who can't hack keeping on-line getting some problems and possibly touching the wall.

I would have been far more annoyed had they replaced the grass with tarmac!

In a way it's an interesting development that we are concerned about track changes actually reducing the likelihood of crashes.

Great pictures Gerry, melbourne looks fantastic.

Not sure about the wall changes, see how it goes.

Unfortunately not....but we were all over the track in '95...but by far my fave spot there was inside the hairpin on the back straight, where if you were quick enough, you could listen to the cars screaming down brabham straight, hear the Ferrari coming from miles away, watch it into the braking zone, and still have enough time to scoot over to the exit to watch them accelerate up to the next left hander...(I forget what it was called).

Those were the days!!! The sounds the cars made bouncing off trees and buildings, was entirely different to Albert Park...although being a Melbourne boy, I am glad the race is here!!

Hyatt have no idea how you know - but there must be a way! Yes its a Pentax and Im a pretty bad photographer

nigelred5 and it was the wrong way around the track too ;)

pRy - might be a struggle but If i can I will

jonpollak - will do

Rex - great to hear you are doing well now! Sounds like youve picked a winner! Can you elaborate on the panorama shots you want taken?

kamix - no problem i will take shots of turn 3 next time i go. I didnt get a chance to stop there - but IIRC its tarmac.

Loz - you should post more often! My favourte vantage point? hmm - I'll be at the start finsish line which is great for the grid activities, pits, podium and race start but not so much for the actual racing. I like standing at the inside of turn 13 aswell as the inside of turn 3. Turn 9 is also one of my faves. Back in 1999 I stood on a rubbish bin and could follow the cars all the way from Turn 6!! Brilliant!!

Clipper - take her again on the sunday before race weekend (usually the cars arrive then) - atleast give her one more chance!! Might see you there!

Valen - 2 years have flown since you were last here!! Craz

Thanks all - glad you all enjoyed. Will be back with more pics when i go again.

The JPEG file has exim data which has the date, apperture, exposure, camera etc, etc stored.

Just opening the jpeg up in any decent photo editing/viewing software will tell you what the photo was shot with, when and how.

Ah thanks!

You can tell im an ametuer when it comes to photography

They should leave that roadwork sign up for the race.

Hey-ya Gerry

I was wondering if you could take a shot of a nice General Admission seating area under some trees
I hate to pick that viewing area where JV had that horrible shunt, but it is what comes to mind ... elevated grassy area, shaded ... you know a perfect place for a picnic
just for fun

kinda like putting a face to a name

thanks for playin along

nic

nice pics - i did the same thing around albert park in 2003

i notice the astroturf has gone down on the inside of turn 2 as well...

and the podium is last year's fosters one still. ooh.

hey rexx,

that bit before turn 3 doesn't have an elevated grassy area on the side...it's the entrance to a sports centre, and there are some temporary concrete tiers (three rows high) brought in for people to sit on.

here's the sports centre and turn 3, photographed from halfway to turn 4. the yellow line marks the outside of the f1 circuit - turn 4 is actually in the middle of a car park, and is normally blocked off by those concrete blocks.



this photo is looking back towards turn 2. the sports centre is off to the right. there's a mound on the inside of the circuit you can see on the left - is that the vantage point you mean?



this photo is taken midway between turns 2 and 3, looking towards turn 3. the duck crossing signs always made me smile when i passed them

I think Rex mean Brockie's Hill.. This is where I had my first taste of F1 back in 1999 and Damon Hill stopped right in front of us =)